Shooters, motive a mystery after deadly house party

The victims: Two high school students killed, 20 others injuredThe scene: Gunfire sends guests fleeing for lives in Cypress area

Published 12:46 am, Monday, November 11, 2013

Photo: Eric Kayne

Image 1of/4

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 4

Tonya Grice uses hydrogen peroxide to clean the blood from the walkway of her sister's Cypress-area house, where two teenagers were killed and about 20 more wounded late Saturday when gunfire erupted at an 18-year-old's birthday party. less

Tonya Grice uses hydrogen peroxide to clean the blood from the walkway of her sister's Cypress-area house, where two teenagers were killed and about 20 more wounded late Saturday when gunfire erupted at an ... more

Photo: Eric Kayne

Image 2 of 4

Partygoers ran down the street after gunfire erupted on Enchanted Springs, ducking behind vehicles and leaving bloody palm prints like this one on a car hood across from the house party.

Partygoers ran down the street after gunfire erupted on Enchanted Springs, ducking behind vehicles and leaving bloody palm prints like this one on a car hood across from the house party.

Photo: Eric Kayne

Image 3 of 4

Blood stains the carpet and wall inside the home where shooting erupted, resulting in the deaths of two people and injuries to 20 others Saturday when gunfire erupted at a house party in the Cypress area.

Blood stains the carpet and wall inside the home where shooting erupted, resulting in the deaths of two people and injuries to 20 others Saturday when gunfire erupted at a house party in the Cypress area.

Photo: Eric Kayne

Image 4 of 4

Blood stains the carpet and wall inside the home where shooting erupted, resulting in the deaths of two people and injuries to 20 others Saturday when gunfire erupted at a house party in the Cypress area.

Blood stains the carpet and wall inside the home where shooting erupted, resulting in the deaths of two people and injuries to 20 others Saturday when gunfire erupted at a house party in the Cypress area.

Photo: J. Patric Schneider, Freelance

Shooters, motive a mystery after deadly house party

1 / 4

Back to Gallery

What began as a full-tilt celebration of Mariah Boulden's 18th birthday at her Cypress-area home ended a few hours later in bloody chaos, with two partygoers dead, another critically wounded and about 20 more injured. And nobody but the shooters - who remain unidentified and at large - knows why.

Teens who attended the party that was promoted through Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and text message blamed the incident on a pair of mysterious young men who would not agree to be patted-down for weapons at the front door. Sheriff Adrian Garcia chided Boulden's mother and others who sent out word of the event indiscriminately via social media, apparently unconcerned that people who did not even know the birthday girl might show up.

Two of those who received the invite lay dead at the party's end: a 17-year-old boy and a 16-year-old girl. The sheriff's department said both were students at Cypress Springs High School, which Boulden and many of the others at the party attend. However, friends of both said the deceased teens attended Morton Ranch High School in the Katy Independent School District.

Queric Richardson, a junior, who would have turned 18 on Thursday, was remembered as a generous and humorous guy who loved to play basketball. Friends were stunned to learn that he and the other victim, whose name was not confirmed Sunday night, had died at a birthday party. Social media spread the word, with Richardson's photo sent out with "RIP" next to it.

In all, 16 people were treated for gunshot wounds. The others suffered injuries related to falls or the crush of people trying to get out of the house.

'Didn't expect' this

Partygoers were shocked and in disbelief that what had seemed like a controlled bash marked by minimal drinking and no obvious drug usage could careen so suddenly and violently out of control. They claim the house party that may have had as many as 100 people in attendance was not a wild melee, at least not until one person in the house fired a weapon into the ceiling and a second began firing into the crowd.

Whether the gunfire was planned or spontaneous was a question that investigators with the Sheriff's Department had not answered Sunday, as they continued to interview those in attendance to put together a complete sequence of events and perhaps some motive for the shootings. Boulden herself has no explanation.

"I didn't expect none of this to happen," she said, clutching a white bed sheet around her shoulders as she walked out her front door and down a sidewalk splattered with blood and sprinkled with broken glass.

Boulden's birthday actually was Oct. 29. She planned to have a small house party the Friday before. But she said her mother asked her to postpone it. An 18th birthday is especially significant, and her mother wanted a real blowout, she said.

So the invitations went out. A photo of a shirtless teen boy laughing on a couch served as background to pink text with the address and time, as well as the Bouldens' phone number and alias on Kik, a popular text-messaging program.

The birthday bash was peaceful and unremarkable for its first few hours. If there was a specific incident or exchange or words that led to the violence, it was not known to authorities the next day.

Fired gun sets off rush

What is known is that around 10:45, DJ Lil Dallas was keeping the party moving with non-stop dance music. He had set up his equipment on a long table next to a living room wall, and most of the furniture had been cleared out to make room for dancing. Inexplicably, a man nearby raised his pistol into the air and fired. The party grew quiet, as people paused to make sense of what they had heard, and then more gunshots rang out.

That set off a mad rush to escape the two-story home. Some rushed into the garage, so desperate to get out that they yanked the garage door off its roller track. Others jumped out of windows, some on the second floor. Rumors quickly spread of people who suffered broken bones, including a leg, as a result of the falls. Some partygoers were seen carrying others away from the home.

More gunshots were heard outside. Witnesses told authorities that one of the victims was shot down the street. Neighbors called 911 and huddled in fear that what sounded like a gunfight might continue or spread.

Rene Negret, who lives next door, grabbed her three children and lay atop them on the ground as she called 911. A few houses farther down, Bruno Figueroa yelled at his wife to grab their two boys and hide in the farthest corner of the top story as he went to look out the front-facing bedroom window.

Figueroa, like everyone else, could not make any sense of what had happened. Just a short while earlier, he said, the party had appeared restrained and orderly, with kids dancing inside and several small circles of friends chatting in the front yard.

There was no obvious hint that anything was going to happen, or any sense to those who lived nearby that the party was out of control. Boulden's mother was in the house along with four other adults. Neighbors had been notified in advance of the party and were assured that those who came would not park in front of their Enchanted Springs driveways.

Then, in a matter of minutes, the party blew up. Figueroa saw dozens of screaming, yelling, cursing teens running down the street. Some carried friends who had rolled their ankles or who were shot. They slowed as they got near Figueroa's house, he said, and then something - more gunshots? - prompted them to scatter and duck behind cars and houses.

Perhaps that something was the fatal shot that struck Richardson in the head after he had run more than 100 yards from the house. Figueroa wonders if the fleeing teens feared a car that he saw idling in the middle of the street before it peeled away.

The aftermath

Sheriff's deputies worked the scene through the night, shadowed by news media hungry for interviews with partygoers and neighbors. About 4 a.m., a female relative of Richardson showed up at the house. Gazing at the body atop blood-stained concrete, she screamed, "It can't be him! It can't be him!"

By morning, evidence of the crazy events of a few hours before were everywhere. Bloody hand prints were pressed into neighbors' cars. Sweat and dirt smudged the walls of the house where people had been crushed against it as they ran. And squares of the ceiling pierced by bullets were sawed out by forensic technicians.

Boulden stood in the front yard with family and friends, waiting for her aunt to return with buckets, stiff brushes and cleaning chemicals to begin to get her home back in order. A neighbor parked in the street, her pajama-clad son darting from the back seat to hand over two dozen doughnuts.

Why? What prompted either shooter? And who were they anyway?

The questions hung stiffly in the fall air, with no obvious answer. Some speculated that gang members could be involved, but there was little by way of corroboration that the victims or the shooters were connected to a gang.

Not long before the shooting started, witnesses said two young men had been turned away from the front door after refusing to be patted down by a bouncer, whose job was to look for contraband or people who did not look like they belonged there.

Sheriff warns of danger

Negret's 9-year-old daughter saw two male figures cast silhouettes against the living room window before jumping her fence to sneak into the party. Others said the men came through a back gate of Boulden's home.

But there was no concrete evidence yet that these unidentified men were the shooters, or even proof they had weapons, so Sheriff Garcia instead spoke of the danger of sending out invites through social media.

"Anytime you promote a birthday party on social media, you have no control over who is coming to your home," Garcia said. "If you have a bouncer searching people at the door, you've already taken a turn for the worse."

Aimed for safety

Teens who were at the party countered by saying some form of ad hoc security and mass electronic invitations are common for parties they go to. Gangs are everywhere and an ongoing risk, they say, so it only makes common sense to tell high school friends and acquaintances to leave their guns at home and expect to have a pat down at the front door.

"We wanted it to be safe," Boulden said.

Added her cousin, who asked not to be named, "The sheriff wasn't here. Wasn't nobody here but us right here. We seen everything that happened. Exactly what we didn't want to happen, happened. What else did you want us to do?"

Boulden's cousin said she sensed a "weird vibe" to the party in the minutes before the shooting started. There were too many people inside. The place was too packed. What had been a few dozen mostly friends chatting and dancing had become a mob. He said they were about to clear out the room. The gunfire did it for them.

Boulden will never forget her 18th birthday party, which in this case is not a good thing. She said she wants no more of parties and will ignore invitations to them.